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An International Course of Biblical Understanding

What Is the Truth? LESSON 3

2 Ambassado r Co lleg e Co rres po ndence Course lesson 3

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LESSON 3

- C. S., Miami, Florida

- Student, Austin, Texas

- Mini ster , E scondido, California

Cnpr EditorRonald Beidcck

AboutOurCover

/lr' Ed;/rlrT ho mas Haworth

A p letho ra of articles , book­lets and tra cts proclaimingvario us elaborate theo ries

abou t the second com ing of Ch rist stream fo rth fro m rcli ­giom pu blis h ing hou ses every da y. Periodical ly, certain reoligi o us groups will g athe r on m ountain to ps, in caves o r indeserts to awa it " Ch rist' s return ," mu ch to th e amusementof ot he rs, Yet many ot hers are pessim isti c in thei r views ­so me eve n den,ying that Christ w ill ever retu rn.

\Vhat is the truth? D<X's the Bible reatlv teach thar Chri stwill retu rn to th e eart h? If so , can we know w here or wheno r b oll' He will come? This important lesson reveals theans we rs !

EX ECUTIVEEDITOR

Garn er Ted Armstrong

Ambossod or College Pho to

MANAG ING EDITOR

Richard H. Scdliacik

DIRECTOR

DavidJon Hill

EDITORH ERBERT W, ARMSTRONG

An international (OUfM: of Bib lical understa nd ing pub lished by the De­partment o f T heo log y, Ambassado r College, .100 West G reen SI., Pasa­dena, California. 91123. © 1972 Ambassador College for rhe entirecontent s of this publica tion .* All rights reserved

(jmdafion Af (w ager

Ed ward C. Kleier

S/<ljf U"r;tenLawson C. Briggs W illiam F. Dankcnbriog

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L THE DRAMATIC RETURNOF JESUS CHRISTI

W hen and where will Chris t r e turn? Will He come q uietly,or will the whole world know? Has He already returnedsecretly? Here is the amazing truth about the SECOND

COMING of Jesus Christ!

N o NEWS STORY could be more shocking. Noheadline could be more spectacular than:JESUS CHR IST RETUR NS!

. .. or more ridiculed today.To the average person, the idea of Jesus

Christ ret urning to earth is a fantastic fable thathas no bearing whatsoever on th e realities of life.

Yet millions of professing Christians stillexpect t he second coming of Christ - thoughwidely divided among themselves as to why,when and how He will appear.

The Promise of Christ's Return

Just before His death and resurrectionbefore His departure from the Mount of Olivesover 1900 years ago - Jesus Christ promised," I will come again" (John 14:3 ).

And only moments after His ascension, theapostles were startled by the appearance of two

MOUNT O F OLIVE S - Ancient arch af thetemple platform in Jerusalem frames the Mountof O lives, site of Christ's prophesied return.

divine messengers who assured them: "T hissame J esus , which is taken up from you intoheaven, shall so come in like manner as ye haveseen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). Theyconfirmed Jesus' promise that He would comeagain and told th e manner of His return.

The early New T estament Church believedwhat J esus sa id, and taught His message toothers. Notice what Edward Gibbon said aboutt he early church in his famous history, Th eDecline and Fall of the R oman Empire:

"T he ancien t and popular doctrine of the Mil­lennium was intimately connected with the sec­ond coming of Christ. As the works of creationhad been finished in six days, their duration inth eir present state , according to a traditionattributed to th e prophet Elijah, was fixed at sixthousand yea rs. By th e same analogy it wasinferred that this long period of labor andcontention, which was now almost elapsed, wouldbe succeeded by a joyful Sabbath of a thousandyears; and that Christ, with the triumphantband of the saints and the elect who had escapeddeath, or who had been miraculously revived,

4 Amba ssad or Coll eg e Correspondence Cour se lesson 3

would reign upon earth t ill the time appointedfor th e last and general resurrection" (Gibbon,vol. II, p. 546, 1899 edition, emphasis oursthroughout lesson ).

But that truth was gradually rejected!Gibbon goes on to show that the fact J esus

would come a second time to intervene in worldaffairs came to be regarded as an error . Within acentu ry and a half after Christ's ascension, itwas t reated as a profound allegory - not to betaken literally. T he doctrine that Christ wouldreturn to rule the earth "was at length rejectedas the absurd invention of heresy and fanaticism"(ibid., p. 547) .

The world today continues to ridicule the ideaof Christ's return. Nevertheless, this messagelies at the very heart an d core of the true g-ospelof th e King-dom of God!

Three Common Ideas

Among the millions of professing Christianswho still expect the second coming of Christ,there are hundreds of differing concep ts aboutthe time and manner of His return. The threeprin cipal ideas are the "Post-millennial Com­ing," the "Secret Rapture," and the "SpiritualComing."

It was not until about 1700 A. D. th at anEng-lish clergyman pu t forward the idea th atChrist's second coming would follow the millen­nium - t he time during which His Kin gdom wasprophesied to rule the earth. But those whomaintain this idea are finding it increasingly dif­ficult to believe that modern man can everachieve worldwide peace and prospe rity withoutth e interven t ion of Christ's "strong ha nd" (Isa.40: 10).

Ma n is now literally on the brink of blastingor polluting himself - an d all earthly life ­from the face of th is planet! That fact aloneshould tell us why - and par tly WH EN - Christmust return.

The "Secret Rapture"

The second common idea accepted by millionsof professing Christians is the "Secret Rapture."According- to this belief, J esus will return to thisearth in two phases. First, He will returnsecretly to whisk away all t rue Christians toheaven to pro tect them from "T he Grea t Tribu­lation." Therefore, it is believed that theChurch' s promised place of safety is not on t hisearth, but up in heaven. The second phase isbelieved to be His "public" coming at whichtime all will be able to see and hear Him.

But th e rapture theory is actually an evenmore modern invention than t he post -millennial

theory. T he early New Testament Church ofGod never heard of it . Nor indeed did anyoneelse until about 1830, when it was espoused by afew people in Britain and later popularized inthe famous Scofield R eference Bible.

Those first few advocates of the rapture theoryfervently believed that they were living in thelast three and one half yea rs of earth's history.When that lengt h of time was exceeded and

The "Ra pture" theory maintains a ll true Christia nswill be secretl y whisked away to hea ven by thereturning Christ. But is tha t really what the scrip­ture sa ys?

Christ still had not "caught them away," theywere forced to alter their doctrine to a generalexpectancy that Christ might return - un­announced - at any moment!

From those few people the doctrine of the"Secret Rapture" has spread to nearly allProtestantism.

Is Christ Already Here?

The third common idea is that Christ hasalready returned. Many ass ume that Jesus camethe second time as the Holy Spirit on the dayof Pentecost. His Kingdom was the Church Hefounded at that time, say the proponents of thistheory, and therefore today all t he churchestogether constitute the "Kingdom of God."

But such a kingdom would not fulfill dozens ofplain prophecies. Also, this theory ignores thefact that the Apostle Paul and all ear ly trueChris tians still looked forward to the secondcoming of Christ and His Kingdom long afterthat particular Pen tecost !

Wha t is the TRUT H?

Let's begin to prove the facts about JesusChrist's dramatic return with our own eyes . . .and our Bibles!

L

Lesson 3

-The Dram atic Return of Jesus Christ!

IN GOD'S NAME - Ma ny of histor y' s blood iestwa rs have be en fought in the na me of religion.For centuries, soldiers belonging to the somefaith s have killed each other in the "n ome ofGod." Could these churches reall y constitutethe " Kingdom of God"? Above: Soldier's helmeta dvert ises his trust in God. Left: War memorialdepicts a soldie r pra ying to his god - the samegod his enemies prayed to !

5

LESSON 3Has Christ Already Come?

Let's notice the warnings of Christ Himselfconcerning His promised return.

1. Did Jesus warn that some would claim Hehad already come before His true return wouldtake place? Matt. 24 :26; Ma rk 13:21.

2 . Did false teachers proclaim that very ideaafter His resur rection? II Thes. 2:1-2. (TheKing James rendering, "is at hand," in verse 2 ismisleadin g. Other translations render th is moreaccura tely as "has come.") Did the Apostl ePa ul emphatically refute this false assum ption?Verse 3.

3. Did Pa ul go on to warn that there mustyet come a further falling into erro r - anapostasy from the truth - before the return ofJesus Christ? Same verse. Did Jesus also speakof this as something which had to occur beforeHe returned? Compare Matthew 24:5, 11, 24with Revela tion 6:2.

COMMENT: Jesus, the Revelator (Rev. 1: 1),used the symbol of a rider on a white horse topicture false ministers and prophets claiming to

represent Christ or His Church. The real Christcomes on the white horse described in Revela ­tion 19:11. Notice that Christ pictures Himselfas returning with a sword - the Word of God(Rev. 19:15; Heb. 4 :12) - whereas the devil'scounterfeit is pictured with a bow in his hand(Rev. 6:2).

Notice, too, that the perversion of God 's truthmarks only t he beginning of a long sequ ence ofevents (covering over 1900 yea rs) culminating inChrist's return and the establishment of th eKingdo m of God.

4. Before His resur rection, did J esus make itclear that H is Kin gdom was not at th at tim e,nor ever would be, "of t his world"? J ohn 18:36.Therefore, could any or all of the churches ofthis world constitute God's King dom, as somany seem to thi nk? Same verse.

COMMENT : This "world" or system (Greekcosmos) encompasses all tha t is cha rac te ris t ic ofthe age of man. And certainly, as history reveals,the churches are a PART of this age! They haveengaged in political strugg les, ruled empires,caused the shedding of much blood, especiallyin the Middle Ages. Therefore, if the churchesof Christendom constitute God's Kingdom, then

6 Ambassador College Correspon denc e Cour se lesson 3

that kin gdom IS a part of this world , and Jesusdidn' t know what He was talking about!

J esus stated plainl y : "But now is my KING­DOM not from hence [di d not begin at tha tt ime]" - though His spiritua l CHURCH (Matt.16:1 8 ) did begin on the day of Pentecost (Act s2 ) .

So J esus Christ Himself emphatically denied,in advance, the false concept that lat er formedt he basis for church-polit ical dominance in theMiddle Ages.

5. When asked by His disciples if He wouldrestore the Kingdom in t heir day, what did J esusreply? Acts 1:6-8. But were t hey shortly toreceive power that was NOT of a polit icalnature? Verse 8. What were they to do with thispower? Same verse and Mat t . 28: 18-20.

COMMENT: Notice that the apostles were notgiven to know the time of the establishment ofthe Kingdom, but were to be filled with the HolySpirit on Pentecost.

Jesus ' disciples did not at th at time receivepolitical power to rule the nations. T he K ingdomof God was not then to be set up . But they wereto receive spiritual power that would enablethem to be "WITNESSES" to the world of Christ'sresurrection, and to "teach all nations" the waysof God.

While J esus Himself was AWAY IN HEAVEN, Hepromised He would be with them (and their suc­cessors ) in spirit only un til the end of this age- until the end of this present world of humanmisrule - un til His return to set up the King­dom of God on earth.

6 . What scripture proves conclusively t ha tthe K ingdom of God could not have been estab ­lished on earth yet? I Cor. 15:50. Would you saythe people attend ing the various churches arestill flesh and blood?

When Christ WON'T Return

Another and more modern concept is thatJesus will come AFTER peace and harmony per­meate the eart h for a thousand years, with allthe nations in perfect accord . Could this possiblybe true in the light of the Scriptures?

1. What does Act s 3:21 tell us concerningt he restoration of all things?

2 . When J esus returns, what will t he ambas ­sadors of peace be doing, and what will the gen­eral condit ion of the earth be like? Isa. 33: 7-8.

COMMENT: Obviously the ear t h will be inutter CHAOS - not at peace - before Christreturns!

3. What scriptures prove beyond the sha dowof a doubt that Christ returns before, and notafte r, peace and harmony fill the earth for athousand yea rs? Rev. 5:10; 20:4.

COMMENT: Your Bible shows t ha t Christ doesnot come after a millennium (1000 years) of per ­fect human rule. To abolish human misruleand establish the King dom - the rule - of God,is th e reason J esus retu rns a second time. Sinceresurrected Christ ians will reign with Christ fora t housand years, He obviously must comebefore the 1000 years commence!

End- Time Commission Must FirstBe Fulfilled

1. Before His crucifixion, did J esus' followersanticipate that the Kingdom of God would beestablished very soon? Luke 19:11. What didJesus say in answer to this mistak en idea?Verse 12.

COMMENT: In this parable the "nobleman"refers to Jesus. The "far country" is heaven, towhich He returne d after His resurrection, an dthe "servants" are true Christians.

2. Will Christ receive a kingdom while awa yin heaven? Compare Luke 19:12 with Dani el7: 13-14.

COMMENT: Plainly, the parable in Luk e 19covers the time from Christ's ascension toheaven (the "far country") until His retu rn toesta blish the Kingdom of God on earth.

3 . While the nobleman - Christ - is away,must the servants become profitable by increas­ing their talents ? Luke 19:13, 15; Matt. 25:15­19.

4 . What duty must t he servants - trueChrist ians - especially fulfill before the end ofthis age an d the second coming of Christ? Matt.24 :14; 28: 18-20.

COMMENT: Jesus ma de it plain that the gospelof the Kingdom must go to all nations befo reHis coming!

Ca n We Know the Exact Time?

Shortly before His asce nsion to hea ven, Jesusalso ma de it very plain that He would returnafter a fixed sequence of events. He gave an out­line of these events to His disciples upo n theMount of Olives. In Lesson 2 we studied tha toutline as it is recorded in Ma tthew 24, Mark13 and Luke 21. You should reread Ma tthew 24and note all the events which were prophesied tooccur before Christ returns.

Can we really determine from these propheciest he exact t ime of His comin g? Let 's see :

1. Will God's intervention in world affairsand the second coming of Christ be universallyexpected? Luke 21: 35.

2. To what period in earth's history didJ esus compare His return ? Matt . 24:37. Did thepeople before t he Deluge really expect God 's

Lesson 3 The Dra matic Return of Jesus Christ! 7

supernat ural interven tion? Verses 38, 39. Willpeople today expect God's interven tion and t hesecond coming of Christ? Same three verses.

3 . Will those who are watching and pre­paring know th e day an d hour of Christ' sreturn? Ma tt. 25 :1:1 .

COMMENT: These utterances of J esus haveoft en been taken to mean tha t only the apostleswould not know th e day or the hour, but th a t wein these last days would know it . This is emphat ­ically NOT true! Notice:

4. Did Peter ask J esus if He meant only theapostles would be unable to know tb e day or thehour, or if He meant all - even tb ose of us today- would not know ? Luke 12: 40-41. What wasJesus' reply? Verses 42-43. Is J esus' warningespeciall y for our genera tion - those alive"when he comes"? Notice again Jesus' reply inverse 43.

COMMENT: How plain tha t J esus meant Hisservants of thi s generation would NOT know theday or the hour!

5 . Since we cannot know th e da y and hour,can we nevertheless kno w very near th e actualtime of His return? Matt. 24: 32-33.

COMMENT: Recall th at J esus had alread ygiven in t his chapte r the signs tha t would pre­cede His second coming.

Ambassodo r Co lI_g_ 1'110105

left : As Jesus said, no one can know the preciseday or hour of His return . But be fore He returns,the truth of God - expounded in the samplingof free litera ture shown above - wi ll have beenproclaimed worldwide as a "witness" to a llnat ions.

How Christ Will Return

How will Christ return? Will He come silently,invisibly, as a "thief in th e night?" Is He re­turning to secretly " rapture" away His Church?

Is Christ coming in two phases - once "for"His saints to secre tly take tb em to heaven ­and then "with" them to set up His Kingdom?

T he Bible gives us t he clear, concise answers.1. What does I Thessalonians 5: 2·3 say is to

come on the world as a " thief in th e night"? AreChristians to be vigilant so this period ofupheaval - the "day of th e Lord" - doesn'tcatch t hem unawares? Verse 4-6.

2 . And yet is Christ also pictured as comingas a " thief"? Rev. 16: 15. Does this mean He willreturn secretly - invisibly - in a clandestin emanner?

COMM ENT: That's a fair question. But here'sanother qu estion to ponder: When thieves orbu rglars rob a hom e, do they come INVISIBLY? Ofcourse not!

A thief, however , usually comes at night whenthe household is away or asleep. He ca tchesth em unaware, off their gua rd - SURPRISESth em! You never know WHEN a thief is coming.If you did , you would call th e police and be pre­pared for him . The big qu estion you would want

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KIDRON VALLEY - Here Christ will von­quish the reb elli ous armies otte mpting todestroy Him after He has returned 10 earth,

prophecy reveals that just before God estab­, His rule on earth, armies will gather in they of Jezreel adjoining Megiddo. They will thenlfge on Jerusalem to fight Jesus Christ who is19 to enforce peace on a rebe llious, war-torn

world.

10 Amba ssador College Co rrespon denc e Course lesson 3

answered if you already knew a thief was plan­nin g to rob your home would be when .

So it is with the coming of Christ! He will notcome invisibly - an y more than a thief comesinvisibl y. But He will come UNE X PECTEDLY !No one will know exact ly when He is going tocome.

J esus Himself expla ined : "Wa tch t herefore :for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.But know this , tha t if the goodman of the househad known in what watch the th ief would come,he would have watched, and would not hav e suf­fered his house to be broken up. Tberefore be yealso READY; for in such an hour as ye thinknot t he Son of man cometh" (Mat t. 24: 42-44 ) .

And so J esus likened His coming t o a "thief"in respect t o the time of His coming and theelement of SURPRISE!

How plain!3 . Now turn to Matthew 24. Does ,Jesus

describe a tremen dou s noise which will rend theair at His coming? Matt . 24 :30-31. I sn 't t his thet ime when He "gat hers together his elect"?Verse 31.

4. Will Christ's return from hea ven also beaccompanied by a t remendous shout ? I Thes.4 :16. Is this the time the saints are "caught up"to be with Him? Verses 16, 17.

COM MENT : Obviously Christ's coming will NOTbe a clandestine, secre tive event at all!

To Come VISIBLY!

the Mount of Olives affirm th at He would return" IN LIKE MANNER" as He left? Acts 1:10 -11.What was the manner of His leaving? - was He"seen" until He disappea red in th e clouds?Verse 9. Will He at His return again becomevisible "in the clouds" ? I Thes. 4 :17.

3. Finally, what does Zechariah 14 :4 have t osay ab out Christ's return to tbat same Mount ofOlives, near J erusalem, from which He ascen ded ?Then He will not make a "near miss" and turnright around and go back t o heaven for three andone half or seven yea rs , will He? Obviously not!

C OMJ\.IENT : Christ 's visible, advertised, un­mistakable comin g is plainly described in theBible - in great detail - but the re is not oneword mentioning a secret , preliminary "rapture"of Christians to heaven !

Only ONE "Second Coming"!

Some will st ill contend that this visible andaudible coming is' the second phase of Christ'sreturn . Here is more proof that this idea isut terly false!

1. Does the resurrection of the dead inChrist clearly take pla ce at His return? I Thes.4 :15-16. Does it occur a t the exact mom entthe trumpet ("tru mp") mentioned in verse 16blows? I Cor. 15 :51-52.

THE STORY FLOW OF REVELATIONCHAPTERS 6·JJ , 14 - J6

THE SEVEN SEALS

1sf - Fa lse Prophe ts

2nd -War

3rd - Famine

4th - Pestilence

5th- The Tribulation

6th - Heavenly Signs

7th - The Seven TrumpetPlagues (see box below)

("DAY OF THE LORD" BEGINS)

Injure the earth,sea, tree s a ndrivers.

1. Wh en Christ returns will He be visibl e toeveryo ne? Matt. 24:27; Rev. 1:7.

COMMENT: T he Greek word astrape used inMat th ew 24: 27 may mean the lightning ofthunders torms, or an y brilliant illumination.Now what brilliant light "comes out of the eastand shines even un to the west"? Why, the SUN,of course! Can you see th e sun? Of course youcan! Christ's presence will be "as the SUN shin­eth in his st rength" (Rev. 1:16) . It will beobvious - nobod y will he able to miss it .

The expression , "and they also which piercedhim" in R evelation 1: 7 does not prove that th eONE Roman soldier who literally pierced J esus'side , or the Jews who were livin g then, will bealive a t H is coming. It ac tua lly refers to theent ire human family - YOU AND ME! Our sinstook His life (Zech. 12:10 ) . Revela t ion 1:7 sim­ply shows that all wbo are alive when He returnswill be able t o see Him. And all the rest ofhumanity will see Him lat er, when they areresurrected.

2. Did the an gelic messen ger who spoke tothe disciples right after Christ's ascen sion from

TheSeven

TrumpetPlagues

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1st2nd3rd4th5th - First Woe6th - Second Wo e

Third W oe - or

7th { The Seve n LastPlagues. Secondcoming occurs.

lesson 3 The Dramati c Return of Jesus Christ! 11

2. Is the t ru mpet mentioned in I Thessalo­nians 4: 16 and I Corinthian s 15: 52 the same asthe one blown in Revelation 11 : 1.5? Rev. 11: 18.

COMMENT: Some will cla im that the last trum­pet mentioned in I Corinthia ns ]5 :52 is diffe r­ent from the seven th or last trump mentioned inRevelation 11: 15. But noti ce in Revelation11 :18 that John was inspired to wri te that theseventh trump is the time of the resurrection!

John is describing the sa me moment ous eventPaul did in I Thessaloni an s 4 and I Corinthians15. Thus we see tha t Christ will return a nd thesaints will be resurrect ed at the migh ty blast ofa great trumpet which wiII be heard by all th eearth!

Significance of the Greek Word"Parousia"

Those who insistently adhere to the rapturetheory claim the Greek word parousia , trans­la ted " coming" in Matthew 24 :27, does notmean "coming" at all. They say it refers to His"secret nearness," so that when Jesus' disciplesasked Him for the " sign" of His coming , theywere actually asking for a sign of th e " ra pture ."

What about it?T he scriptures we have studied already ha ve

clearly shown the manner and approximate t imeof Christ's return. But what a bout this wordparousia? Does it rea lIy indicate a preliminarySECRET coming after a lI?

1 . The Greek word parousia (number 395 2in S trong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible)is translated "coming" in many different scrip­tures . I Thessalonian s 3 : 13 is one example. Doesthis verse say that Christ's parousia is "with" allH is sa ints? T hen could it possibly be referring toa secret coming FOR His sain ts three an d onehalf or mor e years before He returns open ly"with" them?

COMM ENT: Wouldn't you think tha t a fte rChris t had gone in to such detai l to a nswer thedis ciples' questions (Matt . 24 :3), that He wouldhave at least mentioned the " rapture" or His"invisible presence"? But no such mention isfound in this cha pte r or in all the Bible!

2. Bu t notice another scripture. At His"coming" (par ousia) , what will Christ do to"that Wicked [one]" who has seated himself "asGod " in th e temple 01 God? II Thes. 2: 4,8.

COMMENT : Clearly , Christ 's coming to execu tejud gment is His parausia - Hi s visible and row­ERFUL "coming" to this earth!

Notice that not only doe s this verse show tha tthe wicked one is to be destroyed at the parousiaof Christ, but it a lso speaks of the BRIGHTNESSof His parousia. Plainly, the parousia of Christ isnot a secret, cla nd estine, INVISiBLE event a t all!

Where Will Christians Be ProtectedFrom the Tribulation?

1 . Wh a t did Jesus say is to hap pen shortlyDEFORE His one and only second coming? Matt.24: 21, 29. And what happens next? Verse 30.

COMMENT: Here we find that before Christ'scoming a Great Tribulation is goin g to occur onea rt h. These verses sbo w tha t Christ will notreturn un til AFTER the Great T ribulation a ndAFTER great heavenly signs occur!

2 . What did Christ teII H is followers illJudea to do when they see a part icular "abomi­na t ion of desola tion" set up? Matt . 24 : 15· 20;Luke 21 :20-21.

COMMENT: This is exac tly what true Chris­tians did befo re J erusal em was destroyed in 70A.D. But this prophecy, remember , is dual. Ita lso gives Christ ia ns in Judea at the end timeinstructions about wha t to do when the "abomi­na t ion of desolation" is set up . If there were tobe a " secret rapture," Ch rist's folIower s wouldnot have to be concerned abo ut either the winte ror the Sa bbath or invading armies!

3. Did J esus believe in "raptur ing" His fol­lowers out of the world to protect them? Or didHe anticipate an otber means of protection ­on the earth? J ohn 17:1 5.

4 . Does Christ promise to keep the overcom­ers of His Church safe in the "hou r of tempta­t ion"-the coming Great Tribu lation ? R ev. 3: 10.

S. A "woman" svmbolizes a CHURCH (see IICor. 11: 1-2; E ph. 5':23-29; Ga l. 4 :26) . Will Godprovide a place of safet y for the end-t ime t rueChurch where th ey will also be protected fromthe devil (the " drago n" - Rev. 12 :9)? Rev.12:14-16. Wh ere will it be? Sam e verses .

COMMENT: Notice that the "earth" helps the"woman." No mention here of heaven, or of arapture!

Obviously, then, the "saint s" - true Chris­tian s of God's Church - will be on the earthduring the Great Tribulation - no t up inheaven as proponents of the rapture t heorybelieve! But Christ promises t he "saints" a placeof safety - on this earth. T ak e not e, however ,that not eve ry Christia n will have qu alified him­self lor tbis pro tecti on . and man y will have togo th rough that Tribulation!

W ho Returns With Christ?

Wh en Christ re turns to the Mou nt of Olivesin the same man ner as He depa rt ed (Acts1: 11 ) , He definitely will not be alone. Not icewho will come wit h Him :

1. WiII a lI the " saints" ( t rue Christ ians) bewith J esu s Christ when He returns to the

12 Am ba ssado r Co llege Co rre spond ence Course Lesson 3

Mount of Olives? Zech. 14 :4, 5. Notice the lastfew words of ver se 5.

2 . Did the Apostl e Paul speak of Christ com­ing "with " His saints, who are now sleeping indeath? I Thes. 3 : 13; 4: 13-14. Do they returnfrom heaven, or just from the atmosphere of theea rth - the clouds into whi ch they will haverisen to meet Him? Cha pter 4, vers es 15-17.

COMM ENT: Both the resurrecte d dead inChrist and the living Ch ristians (then madeimmort al) will not only ri se to meet the return ­ing Christ in the air, bu t will then come downimmediatel y with Him t o t he ea rth .

3 . Will they st ay with Christ forever? I T hes.4:17. Where will He be? Turn to Zechariah 14 :4and Revela t ion 5 :10; 20: 4 once agai n.

4 . Wh o else is scheduled to come with Christat this t ime? Mark 8 :38; R ev. 19 :14.

COMMENT: Wh en Christ came to the ea rth thefirst t ime, He was scourged , mocked and abused(John 19 :1-3 ) . Bu t when He returns as King ofkin gs to set up the Kingdom of God , He willreturn with GREAT POWER AND GLORY (Matt.24: 30) , and a grea t army of angels willaccompany Hiln!

What Christ Will DO WhenHe Returns

Jesus Christ came over 1900 yea rs ago as ameek lamb to be slain for the sins of the world .But when He comes again , He will be wrathful- ANGRY - aga ins t all evil! He will use Hismighty power to change the way s which havecaused all the sorrow and suffering on ea rth .

1. What does R evelation 6 :16-17 foretellconcern ing the time of God's wrath on t hisworld? Did Zephani ah foretell this same time?Zeph. 1:14 -15; 2 :2-3. T urn also to Isaiah 13 :6-7and Ezekiel 7: 19.

COMMENT: Most peopl e have heard little ornothing abo ut the "day of the Lord" - and yetthe day of the Lord is described in more than 30different prophecies scattered throughout boththe Old and New T estam ents.

2. At the very time when t he last (the sev­enth) t rumpet soun ds (R ev. 11 :15 ) , and Christreturns, is God wrathful? R ev. 11: 18.

COMMENT : The wrath of the " day of theLord" manifest s itself in the seven " t rumpet "plagues which are un leashed consecutively overa period of months (Revelat ion, chapters 8; 9;11 :15-19 ) and culminates in the second comin gof Christ an d the administer ing of the sevenlast plagues (Rev. 15 :1 and chapter 16) .

3. Is the grea t personage mentioned in Reve­lation 19 :11 to make war? Wha t is H is t itle?

Verse 16. What else is He called? Rev. 17: 14.Who is the "Lamb" of God? John 1:29 .

COMMENT: These verses plainly show ' thatChrist will come with an army of angels topu nish and conquer t he re bellious nations of theearth.

4 . E xactly WHY will God have to punishmankind? Rev. 11: 18, last few words, and Zeph.1:17.

COMMENT : Christ will be angry at the sins ofman kind . To SAVE the human race ALIVE(M a t t . 24:22), He is coming to punish in love!Otherwise, ma n would des troy all life upo n theea rth!

For nearly 6,000 long years God has givenstu bbo rn, rebellious, misguided hu man beingsevery chance to t urn to His ways of peace andha ppiness. Instead, men have turned their backson t heir Creator. They have REFUSED to followt he ways wh ich would result in the fu lfillment oftheir desires for peace. Men continue to deviseforces which now threaten the annihilation ofall life!

Therefore, as any loving pa rent punishes hischild who will not listen to gentle ' admonition,God will have to punish this world to bring it to

Betlman Archive

MAN IS W AY - The time-wo rn repetit io n ofhistory proves tha t ma n's way to peace involvestram pl ing on a nd destroying human beings ­inf licting pa in, mise ry a nd death !

Lesson 3 The Dram atic Return of Je sus Christ! 13

its senses! The glorified Christ is coming in allthe splendor, power and glory of God to STOPescalating wars, nuclear mass dest ructio n, humanpain and suffering. He is coming to usher inpeace, abundant prosperity, happiness and J OYfor a ll ma nki nd.

S . Will t he nations of the wor ld also beangry at this ti me? See Revelation 11 :18 onceagain.

COMMENT: T his world doesn 't want to change.Man des perately wan ts to preserve t he societyhe has estab lished up on this earth . Men do notwant God to inte rvene and teach t hem t he wayto world peace an d prosperi ty. In st ead, t heywant peace on t he ir own terms - even thoughman's ways to "peace" lead inevitably to morewars and eventually cosmocide.

When J esus Christ comes to stop world sui­cide, the nat ions will quickly drop thei r ownquarrels. T he join t military forces of the worldwill t hen tum thei r efforts against Christ andattempt to figh t and destroy Him!

The returning Christ will be forced to dealwith the na tions of this rebellious world inthe only language t hey will understand - over­whelming force! What a paradox that men will

at first have to be FORCED into t rying the way oflife t ha t leads to happiness, prosperity andab unda nce!

What 15 "Armageddon"?

"Armageddon" is a t erm associa te d with thewrath of God. Almost everyone has hea rd of it .World leaders and scient ists frequently use thisBiblical term when speaking of t he inevitabilityof nu clear warfare, and the dest ruction ofmankind.

Yet few know what "Armage ddon" reall y is!Like most other topics of Biblical prophecy,

wha t is popu larly ta ught about this subject hasbeen generally accepted without question. Andas with most other Biblical subjects, people havebeen turned away from th e t ruth and led toembrace fables!

When World War I broke out, man y excite dlyproclaimed "This is the armageddon war!" Thena generation la ter man y assumed tha t WorldWar II was th e war that would end wit h" Armageddon."

Now th e commonly accepted idea is that" Arma geddon" is th e last battle of a comingwar between the Western democraci es and Com­munism. It supposedly will be a battle betweenatheist ic Communism on t he one side , attackingJ erusalem; wit h t he British and Americana rmies on the other side, defending it. And atthe precise instant of this battle, it is believed,the second coming of Christ occurs.

But is this really what Biblical prophecy fore ­tells? You may be surprised at who will be fight­ing whom at Ch rist's coming, and where!

Make no mistake. World War II I is on theway! World Wars I and II were merely smallforerunners of the UTTER DESTRUCTION which willbreak suddenly upon the nations. This time itwill be so hellish , only the second coming ofChrist will be able to save mankind fromextinction.

T hat's why God commands us to "WATCH"(Luke 21 :36) - to watch world news so we maybe AWARE of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy,and he accounted worthy to ES CAPE thenucl ea r holocaust soon to fall upon this heedless,rebellious world!

1. In what is th e wrath of God "filled up " ?Rev. 15:1.

COMMENT: T he seven th or last trumpet (R ev.11 :15 ) consummates - COMPLETES - God'swra th . How? By announcing th e terrifying "sevenlast plagues"! The Moffatt t ra nsla tion rendersthe last part of Revelation 15: 1: " For th ey [theseven last pla gues] complete the wrath of God."

2. What are t hese plagues of wrath com­pared to ? Rev. 15 :7. (Some trans la tions use theword "bowl" instead of vial.) Upon what will

14 Amb a ssado r College Co rrespondence Course Lesson 3

they be poured ? Rev. 16 :1. Will they cause greatsuffering upon unr epen tant men ? Verses 2-11.

COMMENT : Despit e this severe punishme nt,the nati ons will adamantly refuse to repent oftheir sins!

3 . Wh at will occur when the sixt h symbolicvial of God's wra th is poure d out? Rev. 16 :12.No ti ce from whic h direction these kings willcome. Wh at else happens at this time? Verses13, 14, 16. Let 's carefully analyze what is beingdepi cted by these verses .

World's Armies Assemble

1 . Against whom will th e kin gs of the earthfight? Rev . 17 :14 . We have already seen that th e"Lamb" is J esus Christ.

2 . Who will incite the nations to fight aga insttheir Creator God? Rev. 16 : 13-14. Wh o is thedragon? Rev. 12: 9. Are these "spiri ts" thereforeSatan' s demo ns?

COMMENT : The word "devils" in th e Kin gJames Version ought to be rend ered demons .There is one fallen archangel (Isa, 14 :12-14;Ezek. 28 : 12-17 ) called the "devil," but there areman y fallen angels (Jude 6; Rev. 12:7 ) of lesserra nk called "demons" in the Bible.

3 . Are these dem ons responsible for gather­ing t he arm ies of all nat ions together? Rev.16: 16.

COMMENT : At this t ime, the demons menti onedin verse 14 will stir up worldwi de res istance toChrist.

T he proper translation of the inspired Greek ofRevelation 16:16 should be as follows : "A ndTHEY gathe red them together... ." T his verse is

::.r A S'".... =

some times rendered incorrectly "And he gath-ered them together.. . ." Notice the battle isactuall y stirred up, not by men or nations alone, Jbut by spirit demons of Satan the devil.

4 . What will these evil spirits do to cause thea rmies to gathe r? Rev. 16:14.

COMMENT: Notice that these spirit s directlyinfluence the leaders of nations-deceiving t hemwit h miracles - stirring them to a fever-pitch ofhatred to fight t he new "invader from outerspace" - Christ !

s. Ex actly where do the devil's demons causet he armies of the nations to be GATHEREDTOGETHER in pre parat ion for the great ba t tleagainst Christ? Turn agai n to Revela tion 16: 16.T hen where does the actua l battle take pla ce?Zech. 14:2.

COMMENT : The nations will marshall theira rmies at a place called Armageddon. "Armaged­don" is not an English word. Rather it comesfrom th e Greek rendering of the Hebrew nameHar Megid do. (T he Hebrew prefix " Ha r" mean shill 0 1' mountain.)

Megiddo was a strong fortificat ion datingfrom ancient times, situated ap proxima tely 55miles north of Jerusalem. The mound tha t re­mains is a few miles southeast of Haifa - anat ural por t and indu stri al center providingideal facilities for landing t roops.

The ruins of Megiddo are located on the edgeof t he pla in of Megiddo, an oval -shaped valleyonce called the Plain of Esdraelon, but nowcommonly called t he Valley of J ezreel. It is a

Vast armies will converge on Jerusalem to fightthe returning Jesus Christ!

CT/e·Tau Photo

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Lesson 3 The Dra matic Return of Jesus Christ! 15

la rge fla t a rea ideal for the assembling of mili­tary equipment and personnel.

The hill of Megidd o was st rongly fort ified aslong ago as the da ys of King Solomon (I Kings9:15) . It was a literal fortress rising above thesur rounding plain . The fortress hill Megidd oserves as a type, or forerunner, of the bristlin garmaments tha t sha ll soon envelop the wholesurrounding area.

Historians have sa id that more ba t tle s havebeen fought in the Valley of J ezreel tha n any­where else on earth. However, when Christreturns, the armies will only gather here. Fromthis na tura l staging area th ey will advancesouthward towa rd J erusa lem to fight againstH im. The fina l battle will then take place in theenvirons of Jerusalem!

The Great "Battle ofGod Almighty"

1. What is the name of the climactic ba ttlet hat determines WHO will rule th e earth? Rev.16: 14, last part.

COMM ENT: The battle that ensues will revealwhether MAN or GOD sha ll ru le th e earth for th enext t housand yea rs. It is called t he "Battle ofThat Grea t Day of God Almighty" - oftencalled the "Bat tle of Armagedd on" !

2. This battle is desc ribed in Revelation19:11-21. Who sha ll fight whom? Verses 14, 19.Will the U.S.S.R. and her Communist satellitesfight aga inst British and American armies, as somany have assumed? Or will it be the armies of aunion of nat ions from the "east" and the armiesof " the whole world" attempting to fight againstChrist? Turn to Revelation 16:12-14 once again.

COMMENT : The nations, already engaged in anall-out struggle for world dominion, will be angryand furious when they see a heavenly "invader"has come to intervene in human affairs. In afrenzy of rage, th ese nations will prepare to dobattle wit h and attemp t to dest roy Christ andHis armies!

3 . Exactly where does th e Bible say th isbattle will take place? Joel 3: 1-2, 9-14. Compareverse 13 with Revelation 14 :18-20 ; 19:15.

COMM ENT: "J ehoshaphat" means "J udgmentof J ehovah" [or more correctly, "Judgment oft he Eternal" ] ( Peloubet's Bible Dict ionary ). T hefocal point of the battle will be in the Valley ofJ ehoshaphat, also ca lled th e "Valley of Deci­sion" in the Bible. T his valley is a deep rav inehaving very steep sides. It borders the cit y ofJ erusalem on th e east. According to Unger'sDict ionary of th e Bible, the Valley of Jehosha­phat, which is situate d between J erusalem and

the Moun t of Olives, is now known as the"Kidron Valley" (page 564) .

Zechar iah 14 :1-4 plainly says that Christwill fight earth 's hate-filled armies when Hereturns and stands upon the Mount of Olives,just east of J eru salem. And notice that Rev ela­t ion 14 :20 speci fically st ates tha t the blood ofthese enemies - symbolically represented byth e jui ce of grapes being pressed out in a wine­press - will flow "without [outside] th e city."There will be so mu ch bloodshed that the bloodwill rise (in some places) as high as horses 'bridles!

Christ Is Coming Soon!

Awesome t imes are ahead. It may seemincredible, but Bibl e prophecy is very plain.

Through these first three lessons of theAmbassador College Correspondence Cours e youhave seen that th is IS indeed the very ENDT IME of Bible prophecy ! You 've seen tha t God,through His pro phets, apostles and servants, hasrevealed a sequence of events leading up to thedramatic return of J esus Christ.

These events are as certain. to occur as therising and set t ing of the sun!

T herefore, you need to "w atch" (Luke 21: 36)world events as never hefore ! Be vigilant. Keepabreast of world news. You shou ld read at leastone news magazine every week. And by allmeans read The P LAIN TRUTH magazine. (It isfree of charge, just as this course is free of tui tioncost.) It makes world news plain in the light ofBible prophecy.

You have clearly seen in your own Bible thatChrist will come visibly , and with great POWERto a Gad -rejecting world to save it from itself.His dramatic coming will usher in the beginningof the Millennium - 1,000 years of peace andprosperity for all mankind !

People will finally learn to lead happy andabundant lives under the righteo us rule ofChrist. Under His guida nce and rulership thewhole world will receive God's abundant bless­ings. But more abou t tha t wonderful worldtomorrow in th e next lesson!

ANSWERS TO QUIZl. A 5 . A 9. 0 13. T 17. I2. 0 6. C 10. A 14. F 18. 0

3.0 7.0 11. T 15_ F 19. F

4 . 8 8. A 12. F 16. H 20. B

Rate Yourself19·20 correct excellent16-18 co rrect . •.••.• . • . • .• .• . . ... . . goo d13-15 correct _ fa ir

16 Ambassador College Correspondence Course

TEST YOUR MEMORYThis quiz is designed to help you remember the im po rtan tfacts you learned in the le sson. You simply circle o r under­line each correct answer. After you've fi nished, check yourchoices with the correct a nswers listed on page 15, and

then rate yourself.

Lesson 3

1 . The messa ge a bo ut Ch rist's coming to se t upthe Kingdom of God to ru le this earth A. is theheart a nd core of the true Gospel. B. wassimply a Je wish fa b le . C. or ig inated as a heresyof the Gnost ics. D. ha s no ad herents today.

2 . Histo ry proves tha t the early Church A . taughttha t the Church is the King d o m. B. believed theduty o f Christia ns is to force Chris tianity o n thewo rld. C. d id not ex pect Jesus to return. D. fer­ven tly be lieved in a co ming mi llen nium of peacepreceded by the second coming of Christ.

3. Jesus Christ' s second coming A. was thearr iva l of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.B. was secret, probably in 19 14 . C. will occura fte r the Mille nni um . D. will beg in the Mil­lenium.

4 . Jesus warned the wor ld thro ugh the apos tlesthat A. the re would be a re ne we d fervor tolearn the truth before His ret urn . B. the re wouldbe those who would claim He hod returnedb ef o re He was supposed to . C. the "rapture"would occur. D. His re turn would b e in twophases - firs t secret ly, then publicly.

5. Christ's re turn will be A. with th e g reat no iseo f a trumpet a nd the lo ud voice o f a n archangel.B. quiet . C. as a " thief" to steal away HisChurch. D. [ust as most people expect.

6 . The la st trumpet, which signals the retu rnof Je sus Christ, A. will be heard on ly by thesaved. B. is no t the seventh t rump et o f Reve la ­tio n 1 1:15. C. will be heard by th e whole wo rld .D. will be the sig na l fo r a ll na t ion s to ma kepeace .

7 . Chr ist will come fro m he a ve n A. secretly.B. invisib ly. C. without companio ns . D. witharm ies of a ngels to meet the re surr e ct e d saintsin the ai r.

8 . Christ ' s com ing will occur A. unexpected ly.B. unlike a " thief in the night ." C. afte r a g reatre viva l in the churches. D. befo re the seve nthtru mp e t so unds.

9. The Gree k word pa rousia is NO T used inco nnect ion with Christ's com ing A . in destroying

" brig htness" - II The s. 2:8 . B. "with all hissaints" - 1 Thes . 3: 13. C. "as the ligh tning"­MatI. 24 :27 D. in a secre t, clandestine ma nn e r.

10. The "Secret Raptu re" A. is a re la tivel ymodern concept B. is Bibl icall y p rovab le.C. should be the "blessed ho pe " of a ll Christian sin the se lost days . D. is bel ieved in by veryfe w people .

TRUE O R FALSE

11. The retu rn of Je sus Christ will occur a t th eend of a definite series o f p rophesied events.

T F

12 . When Ch rist re turns, the nat ions and the irarmies will surrender to Him a t o nce . T F

13 . The not ions will be a ngry and at war whenChrist returns . T F

14. "Armageddon" is the na me of the climac­tic batt le in wh ich Ch rist wi ll dest roy His enemies.

T F

15. The "seven los t plagues" begin the wra tho f God . T F

MATCHING

Draw a fine from each ph rase in the le ft-handcolumn to the correctly relat ed ph rase in the

right-hand colum n.

A. l a st trumpet16. " Thie f in the

B. Defea te dnig ht" armies

C. " Secret Ra p ture"17. Mount o f

Olives D. Gather armie s

1 B. Thre e demonE. Sile nt ly, invisib ly

sp irits F. W here armies gather

19. Ar mageddonG. U.S.A . vs U.S .S. R.

H. Comes unexpected ly20. Vo lley of

Je hoshaphat I . Where Ch rist retur ns

J. Nuclear an nihilati on ...J100M873